Tuesday, April 26, 2011

This one takes the cake!

Convicted murderer demands new trial after his wife confesses to sleeping with defence lawyer before, during and after the case- Wife says affair began after she offered to help lawyer with research and investigation

- 'New trial needed' - Assistant Ohio Public Defender

By Daily MailReporterApril 23, 2011

A murderer who bludgeoned and stabbed his parents to death has discovered his wife had an affair with his defence lawyer during his trial.

Robert Caulley, who is serving a life sentence for the horrific 1994 crime, learned that Celeste Caulley Bowman had a year-long affair with James Owen while he was in custody during court proceedings.

Mrs Caulley Bowman, who has now remarried another man, admitted the liaisons in court documents revealed to support Caulley's bid for a retrial.

In this October 17, 1997 photograph, Robert Caulley shakes hands with defence attorney James D. Owen with whom his wife (unbeknownst to him) was having an affair.Interesting reaction: Celeste Caulley left, reacts to Caulley's guilty verdict. She was haveing an affair before, during and after with Owen.

The documents filed on April 20 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, in Columbus, Ohio, say the affair, which took place between 1997 and 1998, ended when Owen refused to leave his wife.

In the files she claimed she and Owen first had sex at his lakeside cottage, and then at a hotel the night he was convicted.

She wrote: 'Jim then drove us to a hotel where we stayed until the early hours of the morning and again ended up having sexual relations.

According to AOL News, in the affidavit Caulley, 46, wrote: 'I was completely shocked to hear that this affair started while I was sitting in jail awaiting trial on murder charges.

'I never would have guessed that Jim and Celeste were in a sexual relationship at the time.'Retrial: Mr. Caulley is calling for a fresh trial after discovering his wife had and affair.

Caulley said he had no knowledge of the affair until Bowman's mother told him a few years ago.

Bowman has recently revealed details of the affair in the affidavit, claiming the relationship began after she offered to help Mr. Owen do some research and investigation.

Caulley, from Ohio, was found guilty in 1997 and sentenced to life in prison after his parents were found bludgeoned and stabbed to death during a botched robbery in 1994.

The aeronautical engineer was convicted of beating them with a shotgun with a broken stock after the case had been unsolved for three years.

Assistant Ohio Public Defender Kim Rigby told AOL News that Caulley's DNA profile was never found on the weapon and a new trial is needed.

'This conflict of interest hits at the heart of the attorney-client relationship,' she said.

'A duty of loyalty is owed to every client. Here, Jim Owen's loyalty was clearly divided between his duty to represent Caulley and his personal interest in continuing his relationship with Caulley's wife.

'A court cannot have confidence in the outcome of Caulley's trial based on this unethical behaviour.'

Caulley is arguing that, when he confessed to the murders, he was coerced by a prosecutor who allegedly told him to be co-operative with police.

Rob Warden, director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions based at Northwestern University, told AOL News that it could be a struggle to reverse the conviction, saying once you are convicted it's guilty until proven innocent.

Owen did not respond to AOL News immediately and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien could not be reached for comment.

'This conflict of interest hits at the heart of the attorney-client relationship.

'A duty of loyalty is owed to every client. Here, Jim Owen's loyalty was clearly divided between his duty to represent Caulley and his personal interest in continuing his relationship with Caulley's wife.

'A court cannot have confidence in the outcome of Caulley's trial based on this unethical behaviour'